Celes Chere: The Beginnings
by Hoarding Consequence
Summary: Why would someone with a heart so pure do such unspeakable things? A peek into the upbringing of Celes Chere.


They told her the Empire loved her. It loved all its people, and provided for them. They told her the Empire was her family, and all those who sought its destruction were monsters. They said she had been given the gift of magic to protect her family from those monsters. And she believed.  
  
"There is a sickness, a plague upon the world, my girl," Emperor Gestahl had told her one day while taking her on a tour of one of the Magitek factories near Vector. "It is our goal to cure these people of this plague, and bring them into the eternal love of the Empire. You understand this, don't you?"  
  
Celes nodded her ten-year-old blonde head. She didn't fully understand, but the idea rooted itself into her mind.  
  
"Good. I must tell you this, my precious," Gestahl continued, his warm voice growing serious and grave. The change made Celes pay closer attention, her wide blue eyes focused on her paternal caregiver. "There are many who are so deeply taken by this sickness that they cannot be saved. These are the people who oppose what the Empire stands for: love and unity. They cannot help their sickness, dear little Celes, and it only grows worse. This is why it is kindness for us to end their suffering quickly. If we don't..."  
  
"They become monsters?" Celes offered in her tiny voice.  
  
Gestahl smiled down at her proudly and nodded. "Very good, my precious, you learn well. One day, your training will be complete, and you will lead your troops to battle. You will help to rid the world of this plague of hate, Celes. Though you will have to put many of these monsters out of their misery, do not be saddened. For you will be an angel of mercy."  
  
Those words stayed with Celes for the next five years, as her training progressed to the battlefield. She accompanied Leo and sometimes Kefka on their liberation missions. Sometimes what she witnessed grieved her deeply. Kefka never understood, instead he just laughed at her tears. But Leo would take her aside and explain to her why such things were necessary.  
  
"You remember what Emperor Gestahl taught you, Celes?" he would ask. The teenager would nod gravely and meet the kind General's gaze resolutely. "Good," he'd say with a proud smile. "I know it's hard to accept, but all the things that make you sad are very important for the good of the Empire."  
  
"I know," she said one day, steeling her emotions against whatever she felt for those people. Those monsters. "I guess I'm sad because we couldn't help them. We couldn't make them better so they could see reason, and...they had to die. Emperor Gestahl always said it was mercy." Leo just nodded, patting the young knight's shoulder supportively. From that day on, Celes helped to dispense that mercy.  
  
By her eighteenth birthday, those tearful conversations with Leo were a distant memory that she often scoffed at. Her 'weak days,' she'd call them. On that morning, Celes was promised a very special birthday present from Emperor Gestahl.  
  
"Ah, there you are, my pretty," he beamed when she entered the dining room, which doubled as a conference hall. "Come, take a seat beside me. We have much to discuss. Are you hungry?" As she took her seat, she smiled over at Leo, who sat at Gestahl's right hand. A much less sincere smile was aimed at Kefka. That smile faded into a grimace when she saw he was playing with his food again; making a tower of scrambled eggs and an army of sausages to attack it. Celes wondered for the millionth time why Gestahl kept that nutter around, anyway.  
  
Without waiting for a reply, the Emperor began loading Celes' plate joyously. "Here you are, my precious, enjoy the bounty of this table and the fruits of your labor!" Smiling, Celes began to eat, and for several minutes there was almost complete silence, aside from the clinking of silverware against plates and the occasional hushed exclamation coming from Kefka's side of the table. ("We must defend the tower against the evil Sausagian army!") When Celes' appetite was sated, she wiped her mouth delicately with her napkin and sighed with contentment. Gestahl chuckled and pushed his own plate away. Leo was the first to speak.  
  
"So, birthday girl, how does it feel to finally be eighteen? I know you've been waiting for this birthday for a very long time."  
  
"So have we all!" Gestahl said, chuckling again. Turning to face Celes, he took her ivory hands in his. "Celes, my dear, today is a very special day for a number of reasons. For the past eighteen years, you have served your Imperial family very well. Your brilliant battle strategies have not gone unnoticed, nor will they go unrewarded. I am proud of you...General Celes."  
  
Celes' lips parted in surprise, and slowly grew into a grin. "General? D- Did you say General, Your Highness?" Gestahl and Leo both chuckled. Kefka wasn't paying attention. ("Bolt 3! C'mon boys, take 'em all out!") The Emperor nodded.  
  
"That's right, my pretty. You have earned this with your hard work and dedication. Now is the time when we need to be most on guard, and with you joining the ranks of Leo and...KEFKA!" Gestahl shouted, causing Kefka to jump and knock over his egg tower. ("...son of an armadillo!") "As I was saying," the Emperor continued, "With you as my third General, nothing will stop the Empire from spreading peace all over the world. Which brings me to my next point. For some time now, we have focused on this continent, and the battle has yielded excellent results. I now feel confident that once we liberate Maranda, we will be in a position to move our crusade to the northern continent. I am going to give you Maranda, but with a word of warning. Those horrible monsters, those...Returners. They have infected much of Maranda with their disease. Be on your guard, and take drastic measures if you must. Maranda must be cleansed!" For a moment, Gestahl's eyes took on a strange glint, and Celes blinked. Then he smiled and the glint was gone. "If you succeed there, Celes, I will give you South Figaro."  
  
Celes gasped. "Emperor Gestahl, that is...such an honor! Surely I don't deserve such a task! What about General Leo? Wouldn't he be a better choice than I?"  
  
From the other side of Gestahl, Leo smiled at Celes and gave her a wink to show his appreciation for her compliment. "Leo will be taking on a different mission, my dear," the Emperor continued. "He and Kefka are to lead the struggle against Doma." Celes nodded, understanding his choice. Doma was going to be much more complicated than Maranda or South Figaro. Maranda was on their turf, surrounded literally by the Empire. They would fall quickly. In South Figaro, they had an informant to give them valuable hints on the town's weaknesses. With Doma, there was no such assurance. Celes nodded gravely.  
  
"I see. The Emperor is most wise," she said, bowing her golden head. Gestahl nodded his approval of her using the phrase that had grown in popularity among the Empire. Anything that gave him praise was approved of by Gestahl.  
  
"Excellent," he purred, running his bejeweled hand over her golden hair. "I will sanction you a battalion. You will march tonight, under the cover of darkness. And Celes," he added, causing her to lift her head to hear his words. He smiled very slowly. "Any means necessary...my angel of mercy." Celes forced herself to smile back. She was well-accustomed to that particular pet name, and she knew exactly what it meant.  
  
Blood would be spilled tonight. 


End file.
